Tuition – Large Format Cameras and Negatives

If you would like to learn how to use a large format camera for making negatives suitable for platinum/palladium printing then I will be very happy to teach you during a one-to-one workshop.

Half a Day

This is a quick overview of what is involved. It is most suitable for people who do not yet have a large format camera, and want to know what is involved before making the jump. We will not actually expose or develop film during this time.

Two Days

On day one we will start with the half-day overview, but we quickly move on to practical work. You will load, expose and develop some negatives, which we will leave to dry overnight. Depending upon your preferences we can use either open trays or a Job Expert Drum. On day two we will review the negatives and proof one or two of them using palladium. Depending upon your preferences and how much time we have, we may either continue working with negatives or making prints.

BTZS Film Testing (one day)

It takes about a day to complete BTZS film testing. In this workshop I will help you do this quickly and effectively. You will not need a camera, just your favourite film and developer (or we can use Ilford FP4+ and Pyrocat-HD which I can supply).

What You Should Bring

If you own a large format camera, then please bring it with you, along with all your usual accessories (tripod, film holders, loupe, dark cloth, etc.). If you do not have one yet then we will work with my 8×10. I recommend that we use Ilford FP4+ or HP5+ which I can supply in limited quantities, although it would be better to bring your own. We will use Pyrocat-HD as our developer, which I will supply along with all other darkroom chemistry.

It would also be good to bring some of your own work to discuss – platinum/palladium, silver gelatin, inkjet or whatever else you are using.

Location

I teach in my darkroom in Basel, Switzerland. There is plenty of accommodation nearby, and Basel is an EasyJet hub so travel is straightforward.

If the weather is good we may take our cameras into the nearby woods or city, otherwise we will use still life subjects.

Prices

Workshop Fee

CHF 190 per day

plus… Materials Fee, if I supply platinum/palladium solutions for printing